I'm pumped!

For once, our speaker for the inservice was really good. We've had good speakers before in that they kept us entertained, but when we would leave, the common consensus was that we'd gotten nothing out of it and our time would have been much better spent in our classrooms preparing for our students. Marcia, on the other hand, was entertaining AND she provided us with some wonderful classroom strategies. Plus, she practiced what she preached! Everything she told us to do in our classrooms, she did in her presentation. That was certainly refreshing. Many of these high-dollar presenters come in and tell us what to do in our classes, but they do it in the way they tell us not to. Go figure.

You know, no matter how long a person has been teaching, he or she can always learn new and better ways to do the job. Students today are vastly different than they were when I began teaching 16 1/2 years ago. Their brains are wired so differently because of all of the technology that they have been exposed to. Not only that, but they are so used to constant motion from their video games, television, and movies. Yes, it's hard to break the "but this is the way I've always done it" routine, but the kids today are not the same as the kids of the past. They've changed. We have to as well.

The schedule said we would be in the inservice until 3:30 this afternoon, but after lunch, Lou Ann did her thing in about 30 minutes, so we were through by 2:00. Again, what a refreshing change!! I went over to the school to work for about an hour. Hmmm--that hour turned into 2 1/2 hours. I got so busy and so caught up in stuff that I lost track of time. We were told at our technology training yesterday that we needed to check all of our materials to make sure we had everything we were supposed to. Somehow I have ended up with four teacher's editions for the 12th grade literature. I can have one at my podium, one at my desk, one at home, and I guess I could use the last one as a door stop. lol It will be nice to have two in my room. They only weigh about a ton, so to not have to carry one from my podium to my desk will be fabulous.

John and I are about to run to Auburn to pick up his watch at the jewelers and to grab a bite to eat. I probably won't update again until Monday. However, I may be way too tired after the first day of students. :)

What a day!

The alarm went off at 6:20, but I reset it for 6:30. Then I snoozed it until 6:50. I finally dragged myself out of bed and made it to the kitchen to make coffee. Note to self--start fixing the coffee before you go to bed and set it to come on automatically. I got my shower and grabbed a cup of joe before I started getting ready. I remember now why I liked a shorter haircut so much. It was a wash, add product, and go day. That may be the norm for a while. And as far as it being an "outdated" style...I see many celebs with similar styles, but I personally don't have to go for the latest everybody-in-the-world-has-this-haircut-so-I-have-to-have-it-too. I do what I like and what fits my lifestyle. Anyway, after I got ready, I toasted half a bagel and had it with some pineapple cream cheese. Yum.

The training at the central office was from 9 until 11:45--15 whole minutes less than scheduled. haha Like I said in an earlier post, I've already played around with most of the material, so I was somewhat familiar with it. I'm not the most computer/technology-savvy person out there, but I'm certainly not afraid to play around with stuff. I did learn a couple of things I didn't know about our textbooks and the technology available, so it was definitely worth my time. Plus it added 3 more hours to my total. That gives me 49, and we only have to have 25. Too bad I can't carry them over until the next year. lol

After leaving the central office, I headed to Birmingham. I was going to go by to pick Susan up, but she was at the school doing some work, so she and Amy were just going to meet me at The Olive Garden. I really wish I had gone by to get her. I was sitting at the stoplight on 280 waiting to turn onto 459. Suddenly, BOOM. The man behind me had answered his cell phone and let his foot off the brake and rolled into me. Fortunately, there was no damage whatsoever, but I've had a killer headache since. That pretty much took away the interest I had in doing anything other than going to Costco and to Phillip, Katy, and Sam's.

I got 324 (27 dozen) black Bic pens, a pack of permanent markers, a pack of tape, and a pack of Post-It notes. Oh, and 384 Huggies wipes for Sam. :)

Speaking of Sam...after I left Costco, I called Katy to see if they were home. They were, so I stopped by for a bit. Sam was snoozing when I first got there, but he woke up before too long. I'm telling ya what--I wish I would wake up in such a good mood. I'm not pleasant in the least until I've had coffee and a shower. He laughed and "talked" and made some of the funniest faces. He is such a cutie patootie. I still look at Katy with him and find it hard to believe that she's a mommy. She should still be the little girl with a ponytail. :) I know her daddy thinks so, but he is so happy that she found her soul mate in Phillip. They are such a perfect couple, and now they are the perfect family.

I guess this is all the news for now. I know it's only about 8:30, but I'm about to call it a day. 5:30 AM will be here much sooner than I would like.

Busy week ahead

Tomorrow is my last day of summer. On Tuesday, the English department has training on the technology for our new textbooks. We have our system-wide inservice on Wednesday, and then Thursday and Friday are at our individual schools.

After the meeting Tuesday, I'm making a run to Birmingham to go to Costco. I always buy pens in bulk. It never fails that somebody's pen runs out of ink right in the middle of class, and he/she doesn't have an extra one. I'm going to go by Susan's and she's going with me, and then I hope that Katy, Phillip, and Sam will be around so we can go by to see them. Katy said it is Phillip's last day before he has to start back, and they've got some running around to do. Hopefully, Susan and I can pop by for just a few minutes. I want her to meet the most beautiful grandson in the world. It will probably be late afternoon anyway, so maybe they'll be done.

Even though I dread having to start getting up early again, I do look forward to the new school year. It's always interesting getting to meet the new kids and to find out about them. In the last two years, I've taught primarily senior English, but the first year I was back in general ed., I taught a 9th grade English class, and then last year I had a 10th grade class first semester and an 11th grade class second semester. The day I was at the school for freshman orientation, I pulled up my rosters to see who my students were. I've got several students who have been in class with me before.

One of them, Hillary, saw me in Wal-Mart after she had gotten her schedule. She came running over with a huge smile on her face to tell me she had me for English 12. She was in my English 11 class last year. When I told the students how I did my seating arrangement, she rolled her eyes. My first thought was "attitude!" I could have made some comment about how I didn't tolerate attitudes, but I don't work that way. I find some way to connect with them--knowing an older sibling or some other relative, giving them a compliment, associating them with something personal to me, etc. It turned out that her desk was right in front of me. As she took her seat, I told her how absolutely gorgeous I thought her eyes were. Another student laughed and said I was going to give her a big head. I said I didn't think so, but I still thought she had gorgeous eyes. From that moment on, no attitude from her at all. She was--and will be--a true joy.

As far as the past few days--Ali and Bama and I had a great, but very quiet, couple of days. There was no one around us at the lake until John got there Friday. Even after John got there, Todd and Bev were the only other people around. We rode over to Ron and Cindy's late yesterday afternoon and cooked out. Wes was coming up, and when Cindy told him we were there, he said we couldn't leave until he got there. :) We haven't seen him in about two years. I always thought he was the cutest thing, and he's still a cutie. It was about 9:00 last night before we headed back to our place. I'm really glad we're know that little area so well.

That's about it for now. Have a great one!

I'll be back Sunday

I've got a couple of things to load up, and then the pups and I are headed out. I've got four books to read, but The Red Badge of Courage and Their Eyes Were Watching God are school reading. I haven't read TRBoC since I was in school myself, so it's almost like reading it again for the first time. The satellite at the lake is on the blink, so no TV. I did get a DVD player to take up there, but if it's like a lot of the newer ones, it doesn't use coax cables, and the TV does. That's quite all right, though. I'll take a few movies, and if I decide to watch one, I can use my laptop. I'm taking my laptop only because I do need to do a few things for school while I'm there. Like I've said before, there is no internet.

John told me to check the weather before I left. He was concerned that this hurricane out there might cause some bad weather for us, and if there is bad weather in the north-west part of Alabama, it's going to happen at Smith Lake. It didn't look like it was going to be bad, so hopefully that won't change.

John will be up Friday. Tomorrow afternoon he has a follow-up class to his diabetes class. It's over at 4, so he's planning on meeting Jess for dinner. I told her to make him take her somewhere nice. :) They haven't had a daddy-daughter "date" in a long time.

Everybody enjoy the rest of your week. I know I will.

Shopping for "school" clothes

Do you remember how excited you'd get around this time of the year when you were younger? You knew that school was just around the corner, although "just around the corner" was still a month or so away back in the day. LOL That meant that it was time to go shopping for school clothes. It was always such a fun time. Of course, shopping for school clothes was vastly different for my mom and me than it is for parents and students today. We usually went to Sears, and I would get a couple of pairs of jeans, some tops, and a pair of shoes. Kids today end up spending more on one pair of jeans than Mom did on my entire school wardrobe.

I went to Talbot's today to find a pair of pants to wear with a navy blue twinset that I'd bought earlier. That one pair of pants turned into a pair of blue/white pants, a navy pinstriped skirt, two casual skirts, a red top, and a cute three-quarter sleeve top, so this was my "school" shopping. I did need some "nicer" clothes, though. I really HATE buying new clothes because I've gained the weight that I'd lost, but I get tired of wearing the same old stuff week after week. By the end of the school year I was totally sick and tired of everything in my closet. Maybe I have enough new stuff to avoid that feeling for a while.

Speaking of weight--John and I keep saying we are going to start walking every day because both of us could afford to lose a pound or two. (Or ten, twenty, forty...) I know what I need to do--I've done it before--but it's so hard to find the time now to exercise. There must have been more hours in the day ten years ago. hahaha Instead of sitting here posting, I should have my butt out walking. It is only about 99 degrees, though. (It showed 100 degrees on my way home from Auburn. That's just TOO hot to be out walking.

Friends and being a bum, Part 2

John did get to take Friday off, so we headed up to the lake Thursday afternoon. We got up Friday, had a yummy breakfast, and then went to Cullman to grab a few things. On the way back from Cullman, we went by Arrowhead and got the boat. We went out for just a bit Friday afternoon. On Saturday, we rode down to see Ron and Cindy for a couple of hours or so. I told Cindy that I felt bad for interrupting them--they've been putting in lots of "sweat equity" on the lake house. Cindy said she welcomed the interruption and that Ron did too. Last weekend, Ray, a friend of theirs, had a massive heart attack. He was 55. It was a huge shock to all of us, but Cindy said it really affected Ron, so she thought it was good for him to have John stop by. After we got back home and got cleaned up, we went to Roger and Amy's for a cook out. Mark and Judy had come up from Tuscaloosa, too. It was great to see all of them. After a delicious dinner, we went out for a short boat ride. We had a couple of little things to do around the trailer before we left today. We didn't leave until almost 4--we seem to leave just a little later each time. :)

The pups and I are going back Wednesday for sure. I know we need some rain desperately (the lake is down about 6 feet) but I really hope it's pretty. A trip to Books-A-Million is on the books for tomorrow. :)

Anybody need a wig?

Here is the new 'do. If you think you might need a wig, I'm quite sure Lynn can bag up all the chopped-off hair for you. When I sat down in the chair, my hair was only about an inch from the band of my bra. Now, as you can see, it's shoulder length. I've had almost this same cut before, so I know I'll love it, but it will take some getting used to.

John hasn't seen it yet. Even if he hates it, he won't tell me. Any time I ask for his opinion about a hairstyle, he tells me it's my hair. I know he really prefers it long--we've had that discussion many times before. :) What is it about men and long hair?

I know my summer is almost over

It's official. It's time to really begin thinking about the new school year. How do I know? Well, first of all, on Tuesday got my letter from Lou Ann outlining our Professional Development days. Second, this week is orientation for students, and today is the day for freshmen, so I'm at the school about to go do my duty as a freshman advisor. And finally, Debbie called yesterday to tell me that Tammy has set up our textbook training for the 29th. We have tons of technology that goes along with the new literature books, so the company is providing training for us on all of it. The English dept. had wanted to try to have it right after school got out, but I guess the week before school starts is better than nothing. I've played around with much of the material, so I do feel somewhat comfortable with it.

Another way I know summer is almost over is that when I called to make my hair appointment the other day, Lynn told me it was time for a new 'do. She does this about every six months or so. I have no idea what she has in mind. I think I'm going to sit down, close my eyes, and let her have at it. My appointment is this afternoon, so who knows what my hair will look like tonight. :) I'm not worried, though. It's nice to be able to trust your hairstylist so much.

Unless something at the hospital comes up, John is taking off tomorrow, so we'll be heading to the lake this afternoon. Yea!! I'm seriously considering taking the pups and going back up maybe Wednesday and staying the rest of the week. It's my last chance to have several days of nothing but SUN. I would take my stuff and just stay this time, but Bunco is Tuesday night, and I really don't want to miss it. I missed last month because I was in Tuscaloosa.

I guess that's about it for now. I'm about to run downstairs to say good morning to everyone in the office and to find out if there are any new and exciting changes around here. I hope you have a GREAT day!

Friends and being a bum

Susan and Tim rented a condo at Stillwaters this week, so last night Misty, Rodney, John, and I went down there and we all cooked out. John, master of the grill, was responsible for some delicious steaks. After eating, we took Susan and Tim's pontoon out for a night-time cruise. There is nothing more relaxing or enjoyable than taking a boat ride at night. We left before it was completely dark, so we got to see the end of a beautiful sunset and then a sky full of twinkling stars. I saw two shooting stars, and Misty saw one.

The six of us always have such a good time together, but we just don't get together often enough. With Rodney working at the marina, he doesn't get weekends off until after Labor Day, so that makes it hard to plan Friday or Saturday get-togethers. With John and Tim working all week, that rules out weeknights. With Stillwaters being just a few miles from the house, last night wasn't too bad for John, even though he did have to get up and go to work today. (Right now he's catching up on that hour or so of lost Zs. lol)

The guys are planning a weekend at the lake, probably in the fall. They camped out several years ago--they still talk about how much they enjoyed it. Tim and Rodney talk about John's cooking skills. (He can make a mean omelet, and as far as grilling goes--NO ONE does it better!!!) When they do that, Misty, Susan, and I will indulge in a spa day. :)

The Kings and the Bishops are some of our best friends. (Yes, we have "royalty" for friends. haha) John and I are so blessed and so fortunate to have our lives intersect with theirs. I firmly believe that our lives work out the way they are supposed to--the way God has planned. John and I were supposed to end up where we are at the time that we did, and these friendships were meant to be. Susan and I were talking about how, in life, we have those friendships that come along but then disappear when the situation changes. It would have been so easy for Susan and me to lose touch after they moved to Birmingham, but we didn't. Friendships, just like any relationship, take work.

I went back over today, and Susan and I hung out at the pool all day. We were total bums, but it was so nice. We had the pool to ourselves. Actually, I think we had the entire complex to ourselves. hahaha I love days like this. I wonder how hard it would be to get a job being a bum...

2 gallons of ammonia, 2 mops, and LOTS of elbow grease

The before on the top and the after on the bottom. Can you believe the difference? The gray-looking spots on the before is where we pulled up the padding under the wool rug. (Jessi always said the rug was purple, and it kinda did look like grape juice. :) )

Because the floors had never had a polyurethane coating on them, we couldn't use the hardwood floor cleaners that are on the market today, so I had to do a little internet searching to discover how to clean them. Oh, the reason I'm showing you pictures of cleaned floors instead of refinished floors is because the floor guy never has called back. Either he doesn't need or want our business, so we're going to call someone else. Anyway, after a little research, I found an ammonia/hot water solution. I thought it couldn't hurt to try, so I went to Fred's to get ammonia.

Feeling a little skeptical, I put some of the solution on the floor. Almost immediately I could tell the difference. Maybe this would work after all. So, I went back to Fred's and bought all the ammonia they had, another mop, the two mop head replacements for the mop I already have, and all the replacement heads for the new mop.

I did the first cleaning yesterday, and the floor looked so much better, but we decided to do another cleaning today. After the second one, they look even better. I could probably do a third one and they'd look even better, but I'm not. They are good enough that we can live with them until we do get them refinished. They certainly aren't perfect, but anything is an improvement over what they were!

Now John gets to do his part--the electrical stuff. He has three outlet and one light switch to replace, and I bought a really pretty light to replace the really ugly ceiling fan/light that is currently in there. We're going to move the freezer to the basement and rearrange the furniture.

Saturday night date

About 6 tonight, John suggested that we ride to Alex City to go to The Home Depot. No particular reason other than to get out. Twenty years ago, if a guy suggested going to somewhere like THD to "hang out" for an hour or so on a Saturday night, I probably would have turned him down in a heart beat. The Home Depot on a Saturday night, or ANY night for that matter??? Now I actually enjoy going there or to Lowe's. Sounds weird, I know, but one of my favorite TV shows is Cool Tools. All the home improvement shows I've watched over the last few years have had an impact on me. :) We did pick up a few things--a soaker hose, a kitchen faucet, a bulb for the outdoor light, and slides to go under the piece of furniture that weighs a ton.

After leaving THD, we went to Carlos' for some Mexican food. Yum! They had karaoke going on in the bar area. Talk about entertaining. hahaha There was one girl who was good, but one of the guys had us laughing so hard. I truly hope he knows he can't sing well but he just doesn't care so he gets up for the fun of it. I'm certainly not saying I could do a better job because I know I can't, and that's why I don't do karaoke, but anyone who does should know that they are subject to being laughed at.

I worked on the dining room floor today trying to get the wax, shellac, whatever it is on it cleaned off. It's probably going to take another cleaning or two to get it where we want it, or at least to where we can live with it until we get the floors redone. I'll post some before and after pictures tomorrow. It's amazing at the difference already!

I'm headed to bed. Have a great one. :)

I love a bargain

Dolly called this morning to see if I wanted to ride to Auburn/Opelika with her today. She had an appointment to get her hair cut--her niece works at a salon in Opelika--and then she had some running around to do. Hmmm---so my options for today were 1) stay home and do some lesson plans for English 11 or 2) go hang out with one of the most fun friends I have. Hard decision. :)

After getting her hair cut, we went to a couple of the shops right by the salon. Opelika has done a lot with the old downtown area. A lot of older towns/cities should follow in their footsteps. We had lunch in this quaint little cafe. A very simple menu--chicken salad, tuna salad, ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, BLTs--but very good. Those are the kind of places I like to go for a quick, cool lunch on a hot summer day.

Anyway, about the bargains. I've been wanting to get some new bedding for the trailer, but I didn't want to spend a fortune on it. Everything I've seen that I liked would be outrageously priced, so I had just about given up. At Tuesday Morning, they had a quilt that I loved. It was a "lakey" green, and it was about a third the price of what I've been seeing. After I decided to get it, I just happened to find the matching bedskirt. Now, I'm not a huge bedskirt fan, but the bed at the lake is kind of...well...ugly, so a bedskirt will cover up the frame. Then, I found a sheet set to match. Woo Hoo! I didn't find pillow shams, but that's okay. I can make do without them. I'll just look around for a couple of throw pillows that will coordinate.

I found a frame at Hobby Lobby for Sam's newest picture. I'm sure I have one here somewhere, but I cannot get to where all m extra frames are because the dining room furniture is in the way. The floors haven't gotten refinished yet. I'm about ready to move the furniture back in because the next time we'll be able to vacate the house for them to be done will be during my fall break...in October. I refuse to live with the dining room table in the middle of the living room and the china cabinet in the guest bedroom. Wow--that was a wild tangent--I started out talking about the frame for Sam's picture and ended up talking about furniture. Since the background on the picture is black, I got a black frame, but it has some mild distressing on it with red as the accent color. The outfit he has on is red, so it matches really well. I couldn't find the 5 x 7, but I found out that Poppa John has taken it to work. :) I guess he put it in one of the frames he has there.

That's about it for today. I'm about to go cook dinner because the chicken salad I had earlier is about to be all gone. :)

Awesome schedule!

I just got my schedule for next year, and it is perfect! First semester I'll have English 11 for 1st and 2nd blocks and English 12 for 3rd block and planning for 4th block. I don't usually get as much done with 4th block planning because I'm exhausted from being "on" all day. That seems to be the general consensus for many of us. My favorite time for planning is 1st block so I can come in and get focused on the day ahead. Anyway, second semester I'll have English 12 for 1st and 2nd blocks, 3rd block planning (which I really like, too) and English 11 for 4th block. I've done English 11 once, so I'll still have to do a lot of planning. I've got the teacher's edition in my bag to take home with me. Guess I'll start on that later today.

Jessi called yesterday to tell us what they'd discovered with her car. The timing belt needed replacing and they replaced the spark plugs while they were at it. She sent a text today to tell me how much it was going to cost. The labor for car repairs is just outrageous. Things that people used to do for themselves, like changing oil and spark plugs, can't be done by anyone except an expert. John was going to change the spark plugs on his truck the other day, but he couldn't get to them. Jessi and I decided there is a conspiracy between the engineers who design the cars and the mechanics who work on them so that people have to take their vehicles in to the dealership to get them fixed. hahahaha I do love a good conspiracy theory. Hmmmm--I haven't read one of the Jason Bourne books in a LONG time. Might be a good time to pull one out.

Guess that's about it for now. I've got to run to the bank to make a deposit before going to lunch. Hope everyone has a great day!

Still in vacation mode

I'm still in the "I'm on vacation, so I'm not doing anything" mode today. I have done several loads of laundry, but that's about it. That may not sound like much, but we had a ton of stuff to wash. It would've been a lot easier and faster to have just taken everything to the laundromat, but I don't know that there are enough quarters in the entire town to have done it all. :) :) :)

The pups are still recuperating from their busy week, too. It usually does take them a good day to get over any trips we take. They don't get their naps in with all the excitement around, so they crash. I'm going to guess that about 7 tonight they'll begin to be more active, and then tomorrow they'll be back to normal.

Mr. Davidson had sent out an email telling us that schedules were done, so I'm going to the school tomorrow to see what mine looks like. He said they were basically the same as they were last year. I think Dolly and I are going to try to have lunch, too. I need to give her a call in a bit to make sure.

Karen, Mary, and I are going to a Blogs and Wikis workshop Wednesday in Phenix City. Since I'm planning on incorporating more technology in my classroom this year, I figure this would be a good one to go to. With Karen and Mary, I know we'll have fun. :)

I hope John is up for Oskar's for dinner. I have this huge craving for catfish, and they have really good catfish! Besides, if he isn't, all we have here is stuff for sandwiches. ugh!!!!

I'm BAAAaaack!

It is going to be SO nice to sleep in my normal bed tonight! The four nights I slept on a dorm-room bed were not as comfortable as I remember from my college days, and our bed at the lake is comfy, but it just isn't MY bed. We hated leaving the lake, though.

We had such a great time. We did exactly what we wanted to do--pretty much nothing! That's the kind of week I wanted for John. There was one day that I'm not really even sure he left the recliner. :) That was perfectly okay, though, because he works so hard during the week, and then he does so much in the afternoons and on weekends around home that he doesn't usually have much free time. There are very few weekends when we're at the lake that we just can do nothing. Even this week, we still had a couple of things that needed to be done, but we got them done early.

A lot of people would probably go stark-raving mad at the thoughts of spending a week doing nothing but staring at the water and not having tons of places to go and hundreds of things to do. Some people have to surround themselves with others and have to be busy all the time. (I have a friend who would go into DTs if she had to live more than about 10 minutes from Wal-Mart. And the idea of living somewhere so far out...forget it! hahaha) We love it though. This is just one of the ways that John and I are so much alike. We love the quiet, the peacefulness, the solitude--it's good for the soul. True, you don't just run to the store to grab a loaf of bread, but that's fine with me.

We did go out to eat Saturday night with Roger, a friend of John's from high school. He and his wife have built a gorgeous home on the Jasper side of the lake. From what Roger said, I think Amy is a lot like me--she'd rather stay at the lake than at home.

We took the boat out almost every day. We rode down to visit with Ron and Cindy and their grandsons (Will and John) one afternoon, and then we all took a late afternoon ride. It was SO nice!! I read three more books. That's a total of six so far this summer. I'll probably get another one or two in before school starts back. John grilled every night, so the few pounds l lost the week I lived on ham sandwiches are back. (Thanks, Honey.)

I guess the best part of the entire week was Friday and Saturday when Jessi, Katy, Phillip, Sam, and the pups all came up. We'd been planning on them coming up for about three weeks, but last Saturday Jessi called and said something was wrong with her car. We didn't know until Thursday that she'd be able to come at all. She has a friend who must be awesome--Audrey let her borrow her car so she could come up! Audrey, I'm quite sure you will never read this, but THANKS!! You made Jess's dad's day (and mine, too.)

They got to the lake about 1ish, I guess. After they grabbed a bite to eat, we headed to the water. Sam had his first taste of being a lake baby. :) He did pretty well. Once he'd had enough, I took him back to the trailer, changed him out of his wet stuff, and snuggled with him. In about two minutes, he was out like a light. On Saturday, he got to take his first boat ride. He seemed to enjoy it--it only took him about five minutes to conk out. After we got back to the dock and he woke up, John took Katy, Jessi, and Phillip back out to tube, and Sam, Linda, and I relaxed in the shade. I don't want to rush Sam's life, but I can't wait for next summer when he can REALLY enjoy playing in the water. Of course, when he's five and wanting to learn to ski, we'll be wishing to be back to this summer. Poppa John had him laughing so hard before they left Saturday. I have never known a kid of any age who didn't just love John. He just has a way of connecting with them. I guess it's because he's really still a kid a heart. I still look at John looking at Sam and just get all teary-eyed. He loves this child so much!


We got up early this morning so we could go to Hartselle to see Billie for a bit. The Alzheimer's seems to be progressing faster than any of us want. Of course, any progression is too fast. Because of us being three hours away, everything falls on Danny, Linda, Tim, Tisha, and Connie, and we hate that. We know it isn't easy on them.

Ali and Bama had a great time, too, but they are both worn out--just like their momma! One thing they aren't going to like is NOT being able to sleep in the bed with us. I'm sure that's another reason I'll be so glad to get back into my bed. :) They are both conked out by my feet, but as soon as I move, they'll be in my lap.

Speaking of moving--I'm going to move on and close out this post. I'm barely holding my eyes open as it is.